eBay enhances Macy’s iPhone app for Black Friday

Macy’s Inc. today has upgraded its iPhone app for the holiday season, with emphasis on Black Friday, the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving. And it has done so by using the mobile commerce technology services of eBay Inc.

EBay has added three primary new features and functions to the app. For personalized shopping, consumers now can use the app to create shopping lists they can edit and share with friends. Friends can check off gifts they purchase and the consumer who created the list is notified by the app, which acts similar to a wedding registry.

Also, the app will now deliver push notifications for special promotions and deals. Macy’s plans to push six major promotions to users of the app, eBay says. As part of the push functionality, eBay geofenced 668 Macy’s stores so an app can sense when a consumer enters a store and then send that consumer a Black Friday deal every five minutes they remain in store, eBay says.

And eBay has enhanced the app’s map functionality, enabling the map to provide the locations by floor and department of Black Friday specials.

“EBay forged a strategic partnership with Macy’s to provide mobile enhancements for their app during the busy holiday shopping season,” an eBay spokeswoman says. “EBay partners with merchants and helps them compete in this new multichannel world. Through mobile innovations such as the Macy’s Black Friday mobile enhancements we’re providing shoppers a seamless, cross-channel experience and partnering with retailers to engage these consumers where, when and how they want to shop.”

Similarly, EBay worked with Best Buy on a mobile app, geofencing 1,100 Best Buy stores and integrating Best Buy products and deals into eBay’s RedLaser app so Best Buy customers will automatically see Best Buy offers when they walk into a store with the RedLaser app open.

EBay would not reveal terms of the Macy’s technology contract. Macy’s did not respond to a request for comment.